Is There an App To Help Teach Kindergarten?

Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.

My Students

As a teacher, I find that small group instruction is key to learning. But what do you do with the others? I hate busy work and so do the kids! An iPad could run a dynamic listening station as well as being used as an individual reward later in the day or even borrowing it over night!

This year, I have 24 sweet kindergarten students that attend our dual immersion school where 80% of the instruction is done in Spanish and 20% in English.

Throughout the years, the ratio of English instruction is increased. By 5th grade, 80% of instruction is done in English. This means, I am teaching Spanish to English speakers(SLD=Spanish Language Development) and English to Spanish Speakers(ELD=English Language Development). My class is comprised of 50% Spanish Speakers and 50% English Speakers. Our school is a Tittle 1 school that is located in a low income neighborhood. Because of the current economic times, many of my families are struggling to get by let alone donate materials to the classroom. Most of my students have little or no technology at home. Our school does have a computer lab but due to intervention programs and the needs of the upper grades, there is not enough time for kindergarteners to have a time slot. Therefore, my students are not exposed to technology.

My Project

Every day, I read books and stories to my students with rich vocabulary in English and in Spanish. For second language learners, this can be a challenge. It is important to increase there vocabulary and catch their interest. I could see an iPad as a powerful instructional tool to introduce rich vocabulary and provide pictures to scaffold a lesson. Another way to implement an iPad would be to video the students reading or performing. Watching yourself is a powerful tool. If they could see themselves reading, we could go over what good readers do. Were they pointing to the word, sitting up, reading syllable by syllable, or in short phrases? I would also like to use an iPad as a listening center. In that way, the children are engaged in learning while I can do small group intervention. Lastly, I would like to use an iPad for individual use. There are many apps out there that reinforce basic math, letter, and handwriting skills.

As a Kindergarten teacher, I find myself leaving a lasting impression on the children.

It is important that no matter what their economic status is, they view learning as fun and in the future as a tool to achieve their goals. I hope as a teacher, to inspire my students to become self motivated learners. Overall, I love to see my students skipping to class and anxious to learn. That love of learning is what is going to create our future leaders. An iPad could help me achieve this goal.